Fake SFA Numbers

It appears to me that the company is padding their numbers (again) this year. Since there is no way to know for sure, this is just a hypothesis. Remember, they can put-out any numbers they want because there is no mechanism in place to track either accuracy or anonymity.

Consider this. Last year my manager was "critical", with an SFA score in the 40's. His PM counterpart was also critical. Everyone I talked to roasted both of them on the SFA, yet they both come back with scores in the 80's. Improbable, and impossible given the input I've received on how people scored these two. Several of my slams weren't even recorded in the individual manager scores in the final break-out of the numbers. Hmmm.

Now, company-wide. I'm hearing numbers are up, which doesn't exactly coincide with current conditions and/or morale. Gee, what would Uncle Fred do if his numbers sucked during the RLA controversy? Lie, and lie big, that's what.

Apologists, please have at it, but a logical mind should recognize the disconnect between what the numbers are showing and what they should be showing. I'd love to have a look at the real numbers.

It appears to me that the company is padding their numbers (again) this year. Since there is no way to know for sure, this is just a hypothesis. Remember, they can put-out any numbers they want because there is no mechanism in place to track either accuracy or anonymity.

Consider this. Last year my manager was "critical", with an SFA score in the 40's. His PM counterpart was also critical. Everyone I talked to roasted both of them on the SFA, yet they both come back with scores in the 80's. Improbable, and impossible given the input I've received on how people scored these two. Several of my slams weren't even recorded in the individual manager scores in the final break-out of the numbers. Hmmm.

Now, company-wide. I'm hearing numbers are up, which doesn't exactly coincide with current conditions and/or morale. Gee, what would Uncle Fred do if his numbers sucked during the RLA controversy? Lie, and lie big, that's what.

Apologists, please have at it, but a logical mind should recognize the disconnect between what the numbers are showing and what they should be showing. I'd love to have a look at the real numbers.

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Unlikely that we'll know if you are right or not. Just one data point to share from my station. One of the managers didn't score well. Wasn't critical but was far below the other managers. I talked to most of the employees in his group and pretty much got the same response from all of them: "It wasn't me. I didn't score him low". They've got nothing to lose by being honest with me. They know me and know I wouldn't tell their manager what they said but they can't all have scored him high. The same thing happens in feedback meetings. No one fesses up. Perhaps there's some of that going on in your station too? Some employees don't want to tell you that they actually scored their manager well? Not saying that's the case, just that it's a possibility.

Unlikely that we'll know if you are right or not. Just one data point to share from my station. One of the managers didn't score well. Wasn't critical but was far below the other managers. I talked to most of the employees in his group and pretty much got the same response from all of them: "It wasn't me. I didn't score him low". They've got nothing to lose by being honest with me. They know me and know I wouldn't tell their manager what they said but they can't all have scored him high. The same thing happens in feedback meetings. No one fesses up. Perhaps there's some of that going on in your station too? Some employees don't want to tell you that they actually scored their manager well? Not saying that's the case, just that it's a possibility.

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In my station I'm positive my manager scored poorly. He's not a good manager, isn't liked or respected, and definitely should be "critical" again. My point is that the corporation cannot afford to have a bad SFA this year. Having "unhappy" employees doesn't synch well with brownbailout.com and the conservative anti-union blogs like the one FEATW posted yesterday from www.heritage.org. For the lie machine to work, we must all be "happy" and not want an evil union. If the SFA was bad, I feel that FedEx would post falsely positive results to indicate that FedEx employees "overwhelmingly" don't want a union. You might not want one, but there are a lot of employees that do.

In my station I'm positive my manager scored poorly. He's not a good manager, isn't liked or respected, and definitely should be "critical" again. My point is that the corporation cannot afford to have a bad SFA this year. Having "unhappy" employees doesn't synch well with brownbailout.com and the conservative anti-union blogs like the one FEATW posted yesterday from www.heritage.org. For the lie machine to work, we must all be "happy" and not want an evil union. If the SFA was bad, I feel that FedEx would post falsely positive results to indicate that FedEx employees "overwhelmingly" don't want a union. You might not want one, but there are a lot of employees that do.

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This is all well and true, and when the time comes (hopefully) if this legislation does in fact finally pass; people will speak in volumes with the cards they sign. All of this SFA stuff doesn't amount to a hill of beans, generally. However, I can honestly say though that I have seen it work only 1 time. A previous manager scored so poorly, she was removed within two weeks after our workgroup had a meeting with Memphis personell. She was "transferred" to California, and later fired two years later.

You know as well as I do for being at the company as long as we have that Fed Ex will find a way to put themselves in a positive light. The way that they determine their score is by taking a certain amount of positive numbers (I think it's six, but don't quote me) from the upper level questions and average them into a means by which a positive score is displayed. For example, last year they could of used #'s 19, 20, 25, 27, 29, 30. But this year, they averaged 18, 21, 23, 24, 31, 33. So, needless to say, the Fed Ex mathematicians are busy trying to find the best possible questions to average to portray a positive result.

This is all well and true, and when the time comes (hopefully) if this legislation does in fact finally pass; people will speak in volumes with the cards they sign. All of this SFA stuff doesn't amount to a hill of beans, generally. However, I can honestly say though that I have seen it work only 1 time. A previous manager scored so poorly, she was removed within two weeks after our workgroup had a meeting with Memphis personell. She was "transferred" to California, and later fired two years later.

You know as well as I do for being at the company as long as we have that Fed Ex will find a way to put themselves in a positive light. The way that they determine their score is by taking a certain amount of positive numbers (I think it's six, but don't quote me) from the upper level questions and average them into a means by which a positive is displayed. For example, last year they could of used #'s 19, 20, 25, 27, 29, 30. But this year, they averaged 18, 21, 23, 24, 31, 33. So, needless to say, the Fed Ex mathematicians are busy trying to find the best possible questions to average to portray a positive result.

This is all well and true, and when the time comes (hopefully) if this legislation does in fact finally pass; people will speak in volumes with the cards they sign. All of this SFA stuff doesn't amount to a hill of beans, generally. However, I can honestly say though that I have seen it work only 1 time. A previous manager scored so poorly, she was removed within two weeks after our workgroup had a meeting with Memphis personell. She was "transferred" to California, and later fired two years later.

You know as well as I do for being at the company as long as we have that Fed Ex will find a way to put themselves in a positive light. The way that they determine their score is by taking a certain amount of positive numbers (I think it's six, but don't quote me) from the upper level questions and average them into a means by which a positive score is displayed. For example, last year they could of used #'s 19, 20, 25, 27, 29, 30. But this year, they averaged 18, 21, 23, 24, 31, 33. So, needless to say, the Fed Ex mathematicians are busy trying to find the best possible questions to average to portray a positive result.

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It's critical for FedEx that they look like the "victim" of a "plot" by the Teamsters and UPS in order to play on the sympathies of both politicians and the public. This is the rationale for Brownbailout.com, and FedEx needs good SFA numbers to show that we're "happy" employees who support Smith and don't want a union. In other words, FedEx will produce fake numbers on the SFA to bolster their very weak case for continuing the "Express Carrier Exemption". And since there's no way to verify the SFA, Fred can pull whatever numbers he needs out of thin air and claim that his employees still love him, the company, God, Mother, and apple pie. In short, he's gonna lie through his teeth. Would you expect any less from him?

I haven't believed the SFA for years, and as far as it being "anonymous", consider the following facts:

1) You have to sign into PRISM to even take the SFA. They know who you are.

2) The demographic data they ask permission to use also indicates they know exactly who you are. Do you think if you choose "N" because you don't want your information used that they're going to honor it? LOL!!

3) The SFA is mainly designed as a tool to monitor how interested we are in going union. It's been an anti-union company from the get-go, and the SFA is a means of monitoring that sentiment. It means far less in terms of it's corrective value to "improve the company" in line with P-S-P. More smoke and mirrors BS.

4) There is absolutely no independent means of verifying the results. FedEx can make-up the whole thing if they want to, and nobody would be the wiser. For the last 10 years or so, a lot of senior people won't even take-it because they know it's meaningless other than a propaganda tool and union analysis device.

It's critical for FedEx that they look like the "victim" of a "plot" by the Teamsters and UPS in order to play on the sympathies of both politicians and the public. This is the rationale for Brownbailout.com, and FedEx needs good SFA numbers to show that we're "happy" employees who support Smith and don't want a union. In other words, FedEx will produce fake numbers on the SFA to bolster their very weak case for continuing the "Express Carrier Exemption". And since there's no way to verify the SFA, Fred can pull whatever numbers he needs out of thin air and claim that his employees still love him, the company, God, Mother, and apple pie. In short, he's gonna lie through his teeth. Would you expect any less from him?

I haven't believed the SFA for years, and as far as it being "anonymous", consider the following facts:

1) You have to sign into PRISM to even take the SFA. They know who you are.

2) The demographic data they ask permission to use also indicates they know exactly who you are. Do you think if you choose "N" because you don't want your information used that they're going to honor it? LOL!!

3) The SFA is mainly designed as a tool to monitor how interested we are in going union. It's been an anti-union company from the get-go, and the SFA is a means of monitoring that sentiment. It means far less in terms of it's corrective value to "improve the company" in line with P-S-P. More smoke and mirrors BS.

4) There is absolutely no independent means of verifying the results. FedEx can make-up the whole thing if they want to, and nobody would be the wiser. For the last 10 years or so, a lot of senior people won't even take-it because they know it's meaningless other than a propaganda tool and union analysis device.

Bottom line? The SFA is a crock.

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While I agree with everything that you have stated here, it brings me to one other point. Where in the hell is Hoffa Jr. and the teamsters at in regards to this legislation and fight? I mean, do they want it for us or not. I haven't heard anything or seen anything in our local or even federal press, news, media, or radio to suggest that they are even behind this...So why are they being so quiet? I just don't understand it.

Another point that I would like to bring up is the following. If this legislation does get passed and we do become union, does that mean we would have to have Teamster representation or another branch of someone from the AFL-CIO? I have heard of another nationally recognized union called the Change to Win Coalition. They broke away from the AFL-CIO, but I don't know which national organization would be better. Can anyone lend some information to help educate those of us who don't know a whole lot about this. Thanks in advance.

Hoffa Jr and Co. are most certainly hard at work trying to get the bill passed as written. You can bet their spending union funds bribing...I mean donating money to senators and congressmen. After all, how else will they be able to furnish their homes and executive offices? They need FedEx employees to help contribute to an already underfunded pension plan.

You said "If this legislation does get passed and we do become union". A little presumptuous to assume ALL stations will become union...no? Besides, FedEx can become union now if a majority of the employees vote to join. I've been there over 10 years, I haven't had a vote nor have I even seen ANY union rep around......have you?

MrFedEx will chime in educate us WHY we haven't seen them around, no worries.

You said "If this legislation does get passed and we do become union". A little presumptuous to assume ALL stations will become union...no? Besides, FedEx can become union now if a majority of the employees vote to join. I've been there over 10 years, I haven't had a vote nor have I even seen ANY union rep around......have you?

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The reason that you have never been approached by a union rep in your 10+ years is that FedEx employees do not currently have the right to join a union.

Under the RLA, groups that wish to unionize must do so across nationwide classes of employees. It's not impossible, just not easy..

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No, but it's nearly impossible. I keep forgetting, the company didn't lobby for the RLA designation to keep a union out. No, they were concerned about the shipping public possibly being inconvenienced. To quote a propaganda film they put out awhile back: "We were heroes then...".

Under the RLA, groups that wish to unionize must do so across nationwide classes of employees. It's not impossible, just not easy..

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It's realisticallyimpossible. You'[ve never been approached by the Teamsters because they know it's impossible under the RLA. That's why they walked away in 1996. I've often wondered where they are now, when they should be out doing something besides sitting on their hands. Why do you think that your beloved Fred is busy bribing people so he can keep us under the RLA? How many quarts of Kool-Aid did you drink today,anyway?

It's realisticallyimpossible. You'[ve never been approached by the Teamsters because they know it's impossible under the RLA. That's why they walked away in 1996. I've often wondered where they are now, when they should be out doing something besides sitting on their hands. Why do you think that your beloved Fred is busy bribing people so he can keep us under the RLA? How many quarts of Kool-Aid did you drink today,anyway?

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You say Fred is bribing people, it's called donating. Unlike the money UPS AND the IBT are spending?? An organization that, theoretically, has nothing to gain by FedEx's status changing.

You say Fred is bribing people, it's called donating. Unlike the money UPS AND the IBT are spending?? An organization that, theoretically, has nothing to gain by FedEx's status changing.

P.S. I don't like Kool-Aid

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Well, you've certainly bought into the FedEx propaganda. You might be incurable, but I'll try my best. Fred Smith has been "donating" politically for many moons. In fact, I hear he basically lives full-time in DC now so he can be closer to the politicians he owns. Think that's a stretch? He not only gives them money, but he flies them all over the world with our very large fleet of corporate jets. If Senator Mitch McBrainless wants to fly somewhere and meet with ADM or some oil company, he can do it via FedEx, and only pay the equivalent of a first-class ticket in reimbursement. Quite a deal, huh? Fred would prefer we not know about this private airline for politicians. Fred is also a master fund-raiser, and brought-in some really big money for both Bush and McCain. He's probably hoping that everyone forgets that too right now, or that he was mentioned as a possible Cabinet member in a McCain administration. Fred is very well-connected and is owed a lot of favors by many politicians and big business power brokers.

Bright boy that you are, I know you're totally happy with about half the total compensation of your local UPS driver, who does essentially the same job you do. Who knows, by the time you top-out in another 10 years, he'll be making well over $30.00 per hour and have a good retirement to look forward to. What will you have? SQUAT, and that's exactly what Fred wants you to have. I'll bet he wishes he had about 100,000 more employees who think the same way you do. He likes passive little people who don't disrupt his empire.

Well, you've certainly bought into the FedEx propaganda. You might be incurable, but I'll try my best. Fred Smith has been "donating" politically for many moons. In fact, I hear he basically lives full-time in DC now so he can be closer to the politicians he owns. Think that's a stretch? He not only gives them money, but he flies them all over the world with our very large fleet of corporate jets. If Senator Mitch McBrainless wants to fly somewhere and meet with ADM or some oil company, he can do it via FedEx, and only pay the equivalent of a first-class ticket in reimbursement. Quite a deal, huh? Fred would prefer we not know about this private airline for politicians. Fred is also a master fund-raiser, and brought-in some really big money for both Bush and McCain. He's probably hoping that everyone forgets that too right now, or that he was mentioned as a possible Cabinet member in a McCain administration. Fred is very well-connected and is owed a lot of favors by many politicians and big business power brokers.

Bright boy that you are, I know you're totally happy with about half the total compensation of your local UPS driver, who does essentially the same job you do. Who knows, by the time you top-out in another 10 years, he'll be making well over $30.00 per hour and have a good retirement to look forward to. What will you have? SQUAT, and that's exactly what Fred wants you to have. I'll bet he wishes he had about 100,000 more employees who think the same way you do. He likes passive little people who don't disrupt his empire.

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Not to mention the NFL stadium in Washington is "FedEx Field." Just who are we wining and dining in those luxury boxes? Hmmm...

O.k. boys, let's play fair.....We all know that the two largest PAC contributers (Political Action Committee) are UPS(1st) and Fed Ex(2nd)....

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My apologies sir. I was only trying to point out that he claims Fred Smith is giving money to politicians to keep his RLA status. In my book, that sounds like a bribe accusation. On the other hand, it's ok for UPS and IBT to give money to politicians to change the status to NLRA. That's called a contribution.

It is now official; FedEx has had another year of its employee satisfaction survey (SFA) indicating even higher satisfaction with FedEx than before.

I’ve corresponded with Couriers I know in stations spread throughout the USA and a couple of people I know in HR in Memphis and FedEx has “officially” scored higher yet again.

Anyone that really believes this should have their head examined, so the “alternative hypothesis” is FedEx is officially cooking the results. Employee sentiment towards FedEx - compared to early last year - is even lower now, so FedEx’s claim that it has scored even higher on its employee satisfaction survey is complete bull.

It is now official; FedEx has had another year of its employee satisfaction survey (SFA) indicating even higher satisfaction with FedEx than before.

I’ve corresponded with Couriers I know in stations spread throughout the USA and a couple of people I know in HR in Memphis and FedEx has “officially” scored higher yet again.

Anyone that really believes this should have their head examined, so the “alternative hypothesis” is FedEx is officially cooking the results. Employee sentiment towards FedEx - compared to early last year - is even lower now, so FedEx’s claim that it has scored even higher on its employee satisfaction survey is complete bull.

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That's pretty much what I've been saying. Did you notice the latest apologist doesn't think Smith "bought" his RLA exemption? I also think the scores had to be "higher" to prove that the whole premise of Brownbailout.com is valid. In other words, we're so freaking happy that none of us want to go union,and evil UPS and The Teamsters are trying to make our personal hero Mr Smith look like a villain. Anybody with an IQ above room temperature can put the pieces together.Excuse me, I've got to go throw-up now.